A little prayer: Fundraiser planned for local girl battling leukemia

July 18, 2013

One night in early July, 7-year-old Joelle â€śJojoâ€ť Lindner decided the time had come to say goodbye to her hair.

A few weeks before that, on June 17, she had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer in which bone marrow overproduces immature white blood cells, reducing immunity to diseases. Her father, Brian Michaels Burger Co. owner Brian Lindner, said Jojo began chemotherapy soon after, leading to her decision to get her head shaved. In an effort to build solidarity, he said, he let Jojo shave his head, too. So did her brother, Will Linder, and a friend of the family, Bryan Spencer.